The moment I saw Tua Tagovailoa’s first concussion against the Bills in 2022, I knew this wasn’t something normal. He was struggling to get back to the huddle and it was overall just hard to watch. He already looked like he shouldn’t be playing for at least a couple of weeks, but next thing I know he’s cleared and ready to play the Bengals on Thursday Night Football the following week, where he suffered yet another concussion and appeared to be unconscious.
Upon seeing this second concussion, I immediately thought of the phrase “When in Doubt, Sit Them Out”, which is a popular catchphrase used to express that when there is even a sliver of doubt, they should sit out and get back to good health before they return.
A concussion is an injury that can change your life from the moment you get your first one. I know plenty of people who have suffered concussions and hurried back to a sport because they were worried they would lose their spot or just do not care enough about the consequences of a concussion. Unfortunately, high school athletes are at the highest risk when it comes to concussions because of bad form and not enough safety equipment.
According to a 2023 Fulshear Athletics study which analyzed concussion data, 11.2 concussions occur for every 10,000 players, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but that is just “reported concussions”. Teenage athletes often do not report when they have symptoms of a concussion and just continue to play through it.
One thing that has improved when it comes to concussions, at least in practice, is the introduction of guardian caps, which serves as a soft shell barrier to protect a players’ head, even just a little bit more. The NFL has even allowed these to be worn in games, and a few players have decided to sport the caps, including Giants Safety Jabrill Peppers, Colts Tight End Kylen Granson, and Titans Tight End Josh Whyle. I think this a positive step forward, but it cannot stop there as the caps only absorb up to 10% of the impact.
Someone who has already been negatively impacted by concussions in his short career is Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who has suffered three very serious concussions. Including one most recently against the Buffalo Bills on September 12, where people are calling for him to retire. I think for his safety, he really needs to consider it. You can’t go down like that three times and expect to play football again without any serious consequences to your health.
Players at all levels need to start putting their health over how “great” they are. According to a 2023 USA Today article written by Victoria Hernandez, researchers at Boston University found that 92% of 376 players tested had some form of CTE or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy which occurs to people who have had repeated concussions or traumatic brain injuries. CTE can lead to mood problems, problems with thinking and often leads to an earlier than normal death. The only way this number goes down is if players put their bodies and brains first and retire earlier.
Southeast’s own Athletic Trainer Tyler Rediger takes concussions very seriously. He said, at the high school level, that there is a five-day process to get an athlete back to practice so they don’t sustain any serious damage. Sometimes the best way to heal is not doing anything.
“Letting your brain just rest is the best thing for it and that’s when it’s going to heal itself,” Rediger said.
If you play a sport, you are going to get hurt. That is just part of it. That being said, the only person who can stop the risk of getting permanent damage from an injury is yourself. You know how much pain you’re in and you know how much your head hurts. Put yourself first and sit out.
“If you don’t take care of it [a concussion] right, then it could have longer, lasting impacts,” Rediger said.
However the issue is not the trainer’s healing process, it’s the athletes who don’t always want to report their issues. Athletes are worried about losing their spots or not being able to be at practice where new plays and new drills might be happening.
I play football and everyday, I’ll hear someone saying “this hurts” or “I can’t think straight at school”. Usually, I just shrug this off and let them worry about themselves, but after seeing what happened to Tagovailoa, I can’t look at these issues the same. I hate seeing my teammates go out to practice or a game knowing that they have some type of injury that should be sidelining them, but instead they decide to play through it.
At the end of the day, I think that people need to speak up about their head hurting or any issue they might have because even if they might lose some playing or practice time it’s not worth risking your health for your future.
